Order of the Alchemist
by Silvae Song
Summary: As he settled back down in his train seat, pulling out a book on his destination to occupy himself, he fervently hoped they didn't have milk in his new home. A few years after the Promised Day, Ed sets out for his chimera research, but he gets a little more than he bargained for when he befriended a scrawny kid from Little Whinging.
1. Chapter 1

**This story needs a beta! If you are interested, shoot me a PM!**

"It's my portal of truth, so I get to decide how it's used."

Ed wasn't expecting Truth to just freeze like that, his expression blank. It was unnerving to see Truth without his megalomaniac grin.

"Just take my gate already. I know it will cover Al's debt. It's eternal truth, or the All if you will. That's more than plenty to cover a human being. I want to get Al home. I can live without alchemy. It's not like I'm addicted to it or anything."

"You're too late."

Ed's eyes widened, his hands trembling.

"Wh-what do you mean 'too late'?"

Ed cursed the tremor in his voice.

"I mean, that was the right answer up until a few minutes ago."

"But-!" Ed started frantically.

"HOWEVER, that does not mean your problem is not solved."

Ed was shaking at this point, as was Al, just out of sight behind Truth. The older Elric froze, not even twitching, when he saw the peaceful, genuine smile on Truth's face.

"What solved your problem, young Hohenheim, is you."

"No, Ed! Don't do it!" Al cried, his voice hoarse from disuse.

Ed hung his head, his fringe shielding his eyes from his brother.

"…okay…"

"NO! BROTHER!"

Ed flinched, while Truth started laughing, that same maniacal laugh that had had haunted them both for the past six years.

"Relax, alchemist. I don't mean I'm going to take your brother."

Both boys paused at that, tension not yet leaving, but panic kept at bay by those words, hope stuttering back alive after its sudden demise moments before.

"Then what _do_ you mean?" Edward finally asked.

"Simple," Truth stated, "You have done something that no one else has done before. This would be the fourth time you have opened the gate, of your own volition, when no one else has opened it more than twice, and have given the proper answer after so long, as well as fulfilling your quest."

"What quest? Then, what is the toll to get Al back?"

Truth giggled, a delighted little noise, "You've already paid it."

Ed frantically scanned himself to see what was missing, but to his surprise, he was intact, both legs and all.

"Wh-what?" he shakily managed to ask.

Truth cackled again, "For a genius, you're rather slow on the uptake, aren't you? You learned your lesson, alchemist! You did the impossible! You stopped Father! You did what I could not, beating him on the ground with your bare fists! You should get a little reward at least." Truth's smile lost its manic edge as his cackling ceased, "Besides, I still need you on the ground. Someone else is once again begging to knock on my door, and I need you down there to stop it yet _again_." Ed could practically see the nonexistent eyes roll.

Both doors opened, as black, fingered tendrils grabbed both boys, pulling them through their own gates.

"Wait!" Ed cried, "What do you mean you need me? What am I supposed to stop? Is Father coming back?! Wait!"

 **BANG!**

Truth sat, staring at the closed gate in front of him.

"You will find out in time, Mr. Alchemist. I wish you luck."

 _"Hey, Winry!"_

He can't believe he did that!

 _"Yeah, ED?"_

He was NOT planning on doing that!

 _"E-EQUIVALENT EXCHANGE!"_

Why did he go and open his big, dumb mouth?

 _"YOU GIVE ME HALF OF YOUR LIFE, AND I'LL GIVE YOU HALF OF MINE!"_

But then, she didn't say _no…_

 _"How 'bout I just give you my_ whole _life?"_

Edward grinned as he remembered her flustered and frantic calculations before settling on 85%. He could live with that. 85% was a good number, after all. He chuckled to himself before freezing.

But what did that mean?

Does he now give 85% of his life to her? What even is 85%? Should he not have left? Should he have taken her with him? Are they… are they engaged now?

"GAAAHH!" he shrieked, clutching both sides of his head.

 _'This is too nerve wracking!'_

"Mommy, is he okay?" a little girl asked her mother across the aisle from the researcher.

The girl reminded him of Elicia, and a pang of regret stung him enough to calm him down a bit. That was one mistake he could never fix, but he was glad the little girl had so many people in her life to support her.

"I'm okay, kid. I'm just a little worried is all," he tried explaining, shaking away his depressing thoughts.

"Worried about what?" the girl asked, cocking her head to the side like an overgrown puppy.

Ed chuckled nervously, "Well, I kinda just proposed to this girl right before the train left?"

His answer sounded more like a question than a statement, but Ed now had the attention of many people on the train.

"Oh! How exciting!" "Congratulations!" "What did she say?"

Ed nervously told the story to the half of the car that was leaning forward expectantly. When he finished, most of them were shaking their heads in sympathy for this girl.

"You'll have to get her a ring and propose again properly," someone commented.

Ed nodded dumbly, his mind set to planning. At least he knew he had time. He wouldn't be seeing her for another year anyway.

 _Ed carefully set the watch on General Mustang's desk. His new, massive office going quiet, the whole team waiting to see what would happen._

 _"Fullmetal- "_

 _"I'm not Fullmetal anymore, Colonel, er, General. I'm just Ed," he spoke softly, his head bowed, a slight smile on his face._

 _Everyone waited for Ed to comment on Havoc's legs, or Mustang's one restored eye, but he never did. Clearly, he understood._

 _"Edward, I would like for you to reconsider leaving the military."_

 _Ed glanced up at his commanding officer of five years._

 _"I have a proposition for you," Mustang continued before Ed could refuse him, "Stay under me and help me rebuild the relationships we have lost with our neighbors."_

 _Ed shook his head, "Sorry, Col-, er, General. Al and I are done. We're going to travel, research, learn. I don't want to be a dog anymore. I accomplished my mission," Ed's cocky grin made its first appearance in a while, "Besides, there are better things to do with my time than diplomacy."_

 _Mustang's signature smirk matched Ed's, their comfortable banter setting both at ease again, "You didn't let me finish. I want you_ and _your brother. You two would be great help in restoring the Ishvalan nation. There are a lot of cities to rebuild, and no one has more experience restoring destroyed city blocks than you two."_

 _Everyone chuckled at Ed's half-hearted grumbling._

 _"I'll talk to Al."_

 _Mustang smiled, confident that the younger Elric would be more than willing to help out._

It took more than two years to restore all the devastated cities, but they managed it, the relations between the two peoples strengthened considerably. In the cleanup, the brothers even found more Xerxes ruins, as well as a few artifacts and history. Being the last Xerxesians, the finds all belonged to the brothers, and they donated everything but a few ancient texts to the Central Museum, starting a culture exhibit. From what Ed had heard, it had grown to include Ishvalan culture as well as some Xingese and Drachman artifacts.

 _"We cleaned up your mess, General Bastard. What excuse do you have for keeping us this time?" Ed asked, Alphonse cringing next to him, shooting the General an apologetic look for his brother's typical attitude._

 _Roy wasn't sure, but it seemed that Alphonse had always been a fairly expressive boy, just like his brother, but no one had been able to see it through the armor._

 _"I understand you both have plans to travel to other countries for research. Would you consider being an ambassador of sorts? Mostly in name only, but it would strengthen crumbling bonds between countries to have this kind of political move, and you and Al would still have military protection and funds for your travels."_

 _Ed stared, then opened his mouth to answer when he was cut off._

 _"This is a request I am making of both you and your brother," Roy turned to Al, "If you need time to think it over, do so. Of course, we will probably change your title. State Alchemist doesn't really fit you guys anymore, does it?" Roy asked with a twinkle in his eye._

 _The Fullmetal Alchemist glanced askance at his brother, the Lifearmor Alchemist, "And you just got your fancy title and everything."_

 _Al chuckled, "It does fit me rather well, doesn't it? It will fit better once I master medical Alkahestry, though."_

 _Mustang's smirk did not go unnoticed, "You will retain those titles, but the Führer and I have discussed the possibility of changing your status from 'State Alchemist' to 'State Alchemist Researcher and Ambassador.' It's a bit of a mouthful, but this will allow you to continue your research abroad," Roy's smirk grew, if that were possible, "Naturally, this comes with a promotion and subsequent raise."_

 _It took every ounce of willpower the man possessed not to laugh at the way Ed perked up at that._

 _The young man considered the offer, a silent conversation passing between the two brothers._

 _"You've got yourself a deal, future führer."_

A little less than a year later, and Edward was off to the west, Fullmetal State Alchemist Researcher and Ambassador, or SARA for short. Ed swore he would have pounded Roy's face into the pavement for that nickname, if he wasn't afraid of damaging his only working eye. After using part of the stone to fix Havoc's legs, there was only enough power in the stone to save one of Roy's eyes, so the man opted for a simple eyepatch. Ed had no proof, but he was pretty sure there was something off about Roy's blind eye. He wasn't convinced the eye was totally blind. It was a little too similar to the Ultimate Eye, and creeped the boy out a little.

Still, he liked this new job. Amestris and its neighboring countries were very isolationist, so not much travel happened between the continent of Xeno and the rest of the world.

In fact, no travel had happened at all.

Edward would be the first Xenoean to leave the continent in about five hundred years, if the history books were to be believed.

He hoped to be able to learn the language quickly. He had always had a knack for languages, along with everything else, so he had about thirteen he could translate written, including the language of his destination as he had gotten his hands on a few snippets of it, although he could only speak four languages fluently: Amestrian, Xerxesian, Ishvalan, Xingese.

 _'Surely, it can't be that hard. I just hope their food isn't weird.'_

As he settled back down in his train seat, pulling out a book on his destination to occupy himself, he fervently hoped they didn't have milk in his new home.


	2. Chapter 2

It was early evening when Edward docked his boat, transmuting it back to the driftwood it had been on the coast of Drachma when he left. Cautiously, he glanced around at the city on the river, impressed by the architecture.

"If they can make buildings like this, their alchemy must be impressive."

He turned to head up the path, heading to the impressive building nearest him, watching the locals wander around the shops, trying to listen in and decipher the language. He was making decent headway in that regard when he spotted a bookshop. He had seen the paper currency used by the locals, so he discretely transmuted a handful of his own cenz into what he guessed he would need for a few books before entering the store. He picked a few that he thought would help him, before paying without a word and leaving, trying to draw as little attention to himself as possible, hoping no one noticed the fact he clearly didn't belong. He figured he would have to change his outfit if he didn't want to attract too much attention, as his style stuck out like a sore thumb. Spotting a nice, crowded outdoor café, he found a table where he could see and hear the locals around him, as he dove into the books he purchased.

He had enough of an understanding of the written language from his studying while still in Amestris, but it seemed that the language had changed greatly. He had purchased a dictionary and thesaurus, as well as a little tourist book entitled _Speak Like a Native,_ as well as a few books on history and politics. He was easily lost in the pages.

"Sir? We're closing."

Ed pulled himself out of the S section of the thesaurus. _'Why do they need so many ways to say small?'_ He glanced up at the woman who clearly just wanted to go home.

"Zorry, I vill be leavink now."

The waitress startled at the thick accent before collecting herself, "Not a problem, love."

Ed's eyebrow rose at that. ' _Love? Is that a local thing or is she making fun of me?'_

"Joo vould not happen to know uv a plaze to ztay for ze night?"

The woman smiled, her earlier attitude melting as she studied the young man. His travel-weary appearance and heavy accent made it painfully obvious he was very far from home.

"O' course I can show ya, love. Now whatcha wanna do is take the Pickadilly line to . . ." She cut herself off at his stumped look.

"Vhat iz a dilly and vhy iz it picked?"

She frowned. This would be harder than she thought.

The Fullmetal alchemist woke with a start. The kind woman had helped him to a bus stop that would take him where he needed to go, so he had thanked her, leaving a large tip, and hopped on the bus. Unfortunately, it seemed he had fallen asleep, thanks to the long journey and lack of sleep, and now he had missed his stop, as well as many others. According to the scrolling letters, he had missed a total of eleven stops. He quickly hopped off the bus before it could carry him further away, glancing around to see where he had ended up. A sign nearby read "Surrey" so he assumed that was where he was. He had seen and heard the name "London" earlier that evening, so he knew he had gone a lot further than he had originally planned. He glanced at the route schedule posted at the bus stop.

 _'Darn. Should have stayed on that bus.'_

Resigned to his fate, he chose a random direction and started walking. He could appreciate the stillness out here. Very different from the bustle of London and Central. It was quieter, not quite as quiet as Resembool, but close.

After a couple hours of wandering, he found a nice park, with very inviting benches. Heaving a bone-weary sigh, he laid down on a bench, using the suitcase he had lugged around with him all day, now heavier with books, as a pillow.

The next morning found Edward awake with the sun, blinking back the sleepiness that was a result of too few hours of sleep. With a jaw-breaking yawn, he stretched, sitting up and looking around, now that he had daylight to see his surroundings.

He appeared to be in the suburbs somewhere, in a park in the middle of a quaint neighborhood.

Before he set off to explore too far, he used his alchemy to make a safe place to hide his luggage in an old alleyway. Taking the alleyway to the end, he found himself in a town square of sorts. Well, it had a little cafe, a small store, and an accountant office. He wandered around the business section of the little town, stopping into the little cafe for breakfast. As he walked, he counted the counterfeit money he had left. The monetary system here was very different from back home, so he had overestimated how much he would need. He probably had a few too many zeros in his hand, but without knowing the exchange rate, he had to guess.

Glancing up as he tucked away his wallet, he saw in front of him, a glorious building, one that had his blood pumping in excitement at the sight: a library.

It wasn't as grand as the newly rebuilt Central Library, but it was a library, and that was enough for Ed.

The lone Amestrian spent the next several days in a set routine: wake from his bench, stop by his spot to leave his luggage in the alleyway, head to the café for breakfast, then get lost in the library's pages. After about a week, he had read through the entirety of the nonfiction section of the library, as well as parts of the fiction section. After watching this, one of the librarians showed him how to use the library's computers, and the young man then spent his time searching the internet.

He wanted to learn all about this world.

Harry glanced at the man walking into the park from his vantage point on the swings. The blonde with the suitcase didn't seem to be paying attention to him, but after the Triwizard Tournament, he had been on guard, waiting for an attack. Sending a single crony, and a young one, from the looks of him, to take Harry out didn't seem like Voldemort's style, but he could never be sure.

All of Harry's worrying seemed to be for naught, however, when the stranger plopped down on a park bench, curling up under his long, red coat and resting his head on the brown, leather suitcase he carried.

Harry chuckled at the loud snores coming from the vagabond. Clearly, the man wasn't a threat, or he would have done something by now.

Before Harry could return to his interrupted musings, he heard the sound of voices. Looking up, he recognized Dudley's gang, dumb brutes, the lot of them. He was hoping they would turn his way. He was anxious to vent some of his frustrations on the boys that had once made his life hell. He had his wand, and he wasn't afraid of them anymore.

Unfortunately for both Harry and the supposed homeless blonde, the boys saw the sleeping boy but never spotted Harry.

Malcolm was the first to notice him, not that the bright red coat was hard to miss.

"Lookit, Big D! We got us a street bum!"

"Wonder what he sells?" Piers mused.

"What makes you think he's selling anything?" Gordon asked.

Malcolm laughed, "They're always selling stuff, that's why they're on the street."

"Wanna do him like we did little Evans?" Piers asked.

Dudley grinned that grin that ten-year old Harry had so feared. The grin that meant you were cornered.

"Why not? Let's see what he's selling."

At this point, Harry was getting ready to interrupt, to make noise and wake the man up so he could escape, to hide and hit the boys with a few nasty curses, to do _something_ to stop them from beating the poor man to a bloody pulp. Dudley was a boxing champion after all.

"HEY! HOMELESS GUY!"

The blonde in question awoke at the loud voice, sitting up and turning to see the four boys crowded around his bench.

"Can I help you?"

Ed was rather proud of the fact that his accent was nearly gone. After several weeks of talking to the locals, he had nearly mastered the language.

He was also rather proud that he hadn't pounded the kids into the sidewalk when they yelled him awake. ' _Alphonse would be so proud of my self-control.'_

"Hey guys, he's foreign!" the mousy one kindly informed his peers.

Ed resisted the dire need to roll his eyes at that statement. _'Me? Foreign? No shit, Sherlock.'_

Ed really did like that character. His adventures were one of the fictional books he had read. Taking a page from the greatest detective who ever lived, he tapped his figure tips together, resting his chin on them, his eyebrows raised.

"Elementary, my dear stranger."

Harry tried. He really did try very hard not to laugh, but Dudley and Piers caught the sound of his suppressed chortles behind them and turned to see the scrawny Potter kid. To Harry's immense satisfaction, Dudley paled. He was probably thinking the foreign weirdo was a wizard as well now, if Harry was involved with him. Relief washed over Harry, as Dudley would never purposefully antagonize an adult wizard. The last time he did, he had to have a pig tail surgically removed. He was certainly in no hurry to repeat the traumatizing experience.

Unfortunately, Piers did not share Dudley's fear.

"What are you here for, Potter?" he sneered, "Is he your dealer? What's he selling you, eh? Where you getting the money for it? You beating up kids for pocket change?"

Harry grew increasingly angry as Piers continued firing off insulting question after insulting question, but before he could retaliate, the older teen on the bench spoke up.

"What do you mean 'What's he selling you?' Who said I am selling anything?"

Dudley decided now was as good a time to speak up as any. He had to keep up appearances in front of the gang at least.

"You're a little drug dealer, aren't you?"

What transpired after that taunt would haunt the four bullies till the end of their days. With a few swift movements, the strange boy had given Dudley a few fists to the face and a knee or two to the gut, all the while yelling about an over exaggerated slight to his height. Dudley's loyal gang turned tail and ran, leaving their "fearless leader" to fight for himself. The boxing champion fell to the ground when the foreigner dropped the collar he had grabbed in his anger.

"Oops. Might have hit a little too hard. He is just a kid. Oops."

Harry shook himself out of his shock, moving forward to claim his cousin before he got pounded again. Harry may not like the guy, but he didn't want to just leave him to this violent stranger. He was probably already going to be blamed for the state of him already. He was always blamed when Dudley got himself in trouble.

"That's my cousin," he called running up to kneel down to Dudley, "Can you stand?"

Dudley groaned. He took that as a yes.

"Zorry, I let my temper get ze better of me again."

Harry glanced up, mildly fearful, to see his potential attacker looking rather sheepish.

"It's okay," Harry reassured the guy, "Lord knows the jerk could use a good beating or two, but what did he even say? He's taunted me and beat the crap out of loads of kids, but I'm the only one who ever fought back."

The stranger grumbled something in what Harry assumed was his native language again.

"In English?"

The stranger flinched, looking sheepish.

"I zaid he called me little," he explained, scratching his cheek in embarrassment, "It's a sore spot of mine."

Harry nodded. _'Fair enough. Heaven knows I was short for the longest time. Still am a bit, actually.'_

"The name's Harry."

"Ed."

"Friggen demon."

The two glanced at the ground to see Dudley starting to recover. Harry moved to help him to his feet, but the large boy brushed him off, standing up on his own out of fear of his cousin and sheer stubbornness.

The look Ed was giving him was equal parts righteous fury and apologetic embarrassment. Dudley cowed under the look, grabbing Harry's arm to drag him away.

"Come on, mom'll be worried if we're out too late."

Harry snorted. Dudley never cared about his mom's worries before now, but by saying that, it was a slight warning to the dangerous man that punched him that he had other people backing him.

Ed nodded, "Your rude oaf of a cousin has a point, Harry. Best to get you two home. Especially so he can get some ice on that bruise."

Harry looked, and there was indeed a bruise blossoming on Dudley's left cheek.

"I'll walk you boys home. As apology for overreacting."

Dudley snorted, despite the circumstances, "'You boys?' You can't be more than a year older than us."

A vein throbbed on Ed's temple, and the sixteen-year-old's eyes widened in fear, taking a few steps back to protect himself.

"I highly doubt that you are nineteen, so I, therefore, must be more than a year older than you," the blonde ground out through clenched teeth.

Harry hid his surprise better than Dudley did, but it seemed Ed had managed to calm himself down... .

"I'm not that short anymore, for Truth's sake. I've got a whole two centimeters on Roy!"

... For the most part.

"Anyway, let's get you home."

Thus settled, the alchemist grabbed his small suitcase off the bench, tossed his coat over his shoulder, and headed off, before stopping, sheepishly turning to ask the boys where they lived.


End file.
